John c



(No Model.)

Patented May 22, 1888.

NITED SrATEs JOHN o. DRAKE, or ALTUS, ARKANSAS.

ASHlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 383,110, dated May 22,1888,

Application filed September 7, 1887. Serial No. 249,012. (No model.)

To all whom, it 72mg, concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. DRAKE, of Altus, county of Franklin, andState of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinWVashing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tothelettters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates, chiefly, to that class ofdevices commonly known asclothes-wash ers or clothes-washing machines, but my improved device isapplicable for washing or' cleansing various materials other thanclothes.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple, compact, cheap, andeffective washing apparatus which may be readily applied in connectionwith any culinary or other vessel, kettle, pot, or boiler, large orsmall, in which the required amount of water may be heated, whichapparatus will compel an effective and thorough circulation orpercolation of water through the material to be cleansed, and whichshall be easy and convenient to operate and have no complicated parts toget out of order, possessing also other advantageous features, as willhereinafter appear. To accomplish all of this my improvements involvecertain new and useful peculiarities of construction and relativearrangements or combinations of parts, which will be herein first fullydescribed, and then pointed out in the claims. A

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figurel is a vertical view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of anapparatus constructed and arranged for operation in accordance with myinvention and embodying my improvements; and Fig. 2 is a top or planview of the device shown in Fig. 1. l 1

In both figures like letters of reference, wherever they occur, indicatecorresponding parts.

A. is the main receiving-vessel, of general circular or other form, ofany desired size, and which may be made of wood or metal. The top ofthis vessel is generally left open; but it may be supplied with anysuitable detachable cover, if desired, to prevent escape of vapors intothe room. The bottom of the vessel A is imperforate, except at thecentral part, which is provided with an opening large enough to admitthe pump-barrel and afford an aperture through which the water may bedrained from the vessel. This opening might be located at some otherpoint than at the center, if desired.

B represents a false bottom, composed of slats or otherwise made withinterstices, placed on the bottom of vessel A and easily removedtherefrom for purposes of cleaning and drying.

G is a bar reaching across the top of vessel A,and secured in anysuitable manner at each end,so that it will properly sustain the pump,and so that it may be easily detached.

D represents a pump, the barrel of which passes through an opening inthe crossbar 0, through the false bottom B, and through the bottom ofvessel A. This pump may be provided with as many deliveryspouts a a asmay be desired,or as may be necessary for the complete distribution ofthe water. I have shown four spouts, and they will be found sufficientunder all ordinary circumstances.

The vessel A, with the pump and the false bottom, is to be placed upon acommon iron wash-kettle or stoveboiler, or other vessel in which wateris to be heated, this water-heat ing vessel being indicated in thedrawings by the fragment E. The pumpbarrel is made long enough to reachdown into the water. Then the clothes or other materials to be washedare placed in vessel A upon the false bottom B and the water pumped fromthe pot or boiler E upon them. The water thus pumped and distributedpasses down through the materials, is drained off by the false bot tomB, and finds its way back to the pot or kettle E through the aperture inthe bottom of vessel A, around the outside of the pumpbarrel, and thisoperation causes a positive flow or circulation of hot water through theclothes or materials continually, or so long as the pumping may be keptup.

Soaps or cleansing materials may be added to the contents of vessels Aor E, or to both. The washer may be instantly removed from one pot orkettle and applied upon another containing a fresh or clean supply ofwater. By thus using the water from vessel E over and over the necessityof heating a large volume of water is obviated with apparent advantages.

The compact arrangement of the washer and its peculiar mode of operationrender it unnecessary to place 'the vessel containing the clothes uponthe stove or heater, as is usually done. The direct and positivelyacting pump compels the flow of water from the heatingvessel in anydesired quantities and from any reasonable depth of heating-vessel. Theoperation of the washer is not made to depend upon the temperature ofthe water or upon any pressure produced in a closed orspeciallyconstructed heating-vessel.

The pump may be turned in its seat in the cross-bar so as to bring theoperating-handle around to any convenient point.

Heretofore vessels for washing have been provided with false bottoms anda pump arranged therein in such manner that water could be raised frombelow the false bottom and discharged upon clothes above said bottom,and in one instance the pump was made removable and capable of use withdifferent vessels. Such constructions are not of my invention; but it isessential to my improvement that the pump be extended below the bottomof the vessel in which the materials to be washed are placed and so asto reach the interior of another vessel on which it may be placed, thebottom of the upper vessel being adapted to cover the lower. By thisconstruction the clothes-holding vessel and pump can be readily appliedto water-vessels of various shapes and sizes, and can also be readilytransferred from one water-vessel to another, whereby, after the clothesor other articles have fouled the water, a fresh supply may be used forrewashing and then for rinsing, ifdesired,without the necessity ofremoving either clothes or water from the vessel in which the clotheswere originally placed.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new herein, anddesire to se cure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a washingmachine of the character herein set forth, the handpump,combined with the vessel for receiving the clothes or materials, thepump passing through the bottom of said vessel, which bottom is providedwith a perforation through which water may deseend,the pump beingarranged to deliver water from a second vessel below the first and uponthe top of the materials and said second vessel, substantially as shown,and for the purposes set forth.

2. The herein described washing-machine composed of the vessel A,hand-pump, top cross-bar, and-false bottom, the bottom of vessel A beingperforated for the passage of the pump barrel and for drainage, theperforation being larger than the pump, and the parts being combinedsubstantially as set forth and arranged for operation in connection withany water-heating vessel separate from and independent of vessel A, asexplained.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand inthe presence of two witnesses.

JOHN C. DRAKE.

Witnesses:

WILL R. POLK, T. G. MOORE.

